The revised EYFS framework, introduced in September 2021, brought changes alongside familiar aspects. These revisions aimed to improve early language and literacy outcomes for five-year-olds, while also reducing paperwork, especially around ‘tracking’ that didn’t always help children.
Historically, despite Development Matters (2012) not requiring monitoring across age bands, it became common. Progress was often recorded this way, sometimes focusing on fitting children into age bands for spreadsheets, rather than meeting their developmental needs.
A frequent question since the EYFS framework was updated is: how do we monitor children’s development now? This is relevant with the current Development Matters guidance, outlining three pathways: Birth to 3 years, 3 to 4 years old, and Reception. It’s important to know this, and Birth to 5 Matters, guides your provision, not assessment. This was also the intention for the 2012 Development Matters, though its use changed over time.
To monitor children’s development effectively now, first consider the purpose of assessment. Dr. Julian Grenier said, “Assessment is about noticing what children can do and what they know. It is not about lots of data and evidence.” (Working with the revised Early Years Foundation Stage: Principles into Practice, 2020).
With this in mind, when observing children’s progress, it’s better to see the child as a whole, rather than assessing every observation. Helen Edwards wrote in a Foundation Stage Forum article, “The aim of observation is to know each child sufficiently well so that you can provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum, rich in resources and interactions with their peers and with interested adults.”
Moving away from assessing each observation gives practitioners more time for direct teaching and learning with the child there and then. This might be supporting a child to access provision, or offering next steps to help them develop further.
You might wonder if observations are still needed if each one isn’t assessed. There’s no requirement to create many observations, but many educators find them useful as a memory aid when thinking about a child’s learning in specific areas. These notes help when discussing a child with colleagues, parents/carers, or inspectors.
Sharing observations with families also helps build home-setting links. These don’t need to be long; a photo or video of a child’s activity can be very informative. If brief notes help you remember later, keep them short and simple. Remember, time spent supporting children’s learning is more valuable than creating many observations that won’t be very helpful later.
Organising your observations in a way that works for you helps when reviewing a child’s overall development. Platforms like Tapestry, using the EYFS 2021 flags, let you group observations by the areas of Development Matters 2021 and the aspects of Birth to 5 Matters. Filtering observations by these categories gives a focused view when considering a child’s progress.
Thinking about your provision for a child, these memory jogs can also help you recall what the child could do and where they might have needed more support. This helps you adapt your provision to better meet their needs and address any developmental gaps. The “Areas of Concern” screen on Tapestry is useful here. Observations flagged with the EYFS 2021 tags appear on this screen, letting you review your records while considering how the child engaged with the provision.
If any children need more support, marking them as a ‘concern’ helps all staff know who might need extra help and how the provision could be changed to do this. The term ‘concern’ here shows the care staff have for each child’s learning and development.
It’s important to remember that when considering a child’s development, you are evaluating it against your provision, not against a strict idea of being ‘on track’ or ‘not on track’. For example, a child with learning differences might be engaging with the adapted provision as expected and wouldn’t be a ‘concern’. However, a child previously seen as ‘high ability’ might struggle to access the current provision, leading you to mark them as a ‘concern’ so you can adapt your approach to ensure their continued progress.
Having a space for reflection, like the Reflections feature on Tapestry, to discuss adjustments for a child, what worked well, what could be improved, and the impact of these changes, is key to supporting each child’s development. This can be a verbal discussion with your team and other adults, or, if that’s not always possible, a shared space for notes and thoughts.
Ultimately, however you monitor children’s development moving forward, the main point from the revised framework is to ensure your monitoring relates to your own provision and avoid trying to assess against guidance materials not designed for that purpose. These guidance documents are meant to support your provision planning, and using them this way will ensure your children get the best possible start to their education.
